March 14, 2015

Return of the Seven (1966) (also called Return of the Magnificent Seven, and The Magnificent Seven 2) is the first sequel to the western, The Magnificent Seven (1960).

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Chico, one of the remaining members of The Magnificent Seven, now lives in the village that they rescued previously. One day someone comes and takes most of the men prisoner. His wife seeks out Chris, the leader of The Seven for help. Chris also meets Vin, another member of The Seven. They find four other men and they go to help Chico.

Bounty hunter Ben Brigade (Randolph Scott) captures wanted outlaw Billy John (James Best), who brags that his brother Frank (Lee Van Cleef) will never allow Brigade to take Billy John to justice in Santa Cruz, California. Along the way, Brigade comes to the rescue of a woman, Carrie Lane (Karen Steele), whom he and a pair of unwelcome new partners, gunmen Sam Boone (Pernell Roberts) and his friend Whit (James Coburn), take along toward safety. But Brigade knows that the reward on Billy John's head is the real motive behind Sam's and Whit's arrival, and that outlaw leader Frank won't be far behind.

Ex-sheriff Ben Stride tracks the seven men who held up a Wells Fargo office and killed his wife. Stride is tormented by the fact that his own failure to keep his job was the cause of his wife's working in the express office and thus he is partly responsible for her death. Stride encounters a married couple heading west for California and helps them. Along the way they are joined by two n'er-do-wells, Masters and Clete, who know that Stride is after the express-office robbers. They plan to let Stride lead them to the bandits, then make away with the loot themselves. But they aren't the only ones carrying a secret.Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>